U.S. Open Tennis Upends Syndie Premieres

Several syndicated premieres were stymied Monday when CBS aired the men's final of the U.S. Open Tennis Championships after the event was delayed on Sunday due to rain.

The scheduled premieres of a few shows -- CBS' Dr. Phil and The Doctors among them -- were pushed to today (Sept. 13) as a result of the tournament. Dr. Phil was scheduled to premiere with an exclusive two-part interview with the parents of Casey Anthony -- who was acquitted this summer after standing trial for allegedly killing her two-year-old daughter, Caylee - while The Doctors planned to introduce its new host, Jillian Michaels, formerly of NBC's The Biggest Loser. Both of those shows aired today.

Shows airing on rival networks also may have seen their ratings affected because of CBS' programming.

That said, Warner Bros.' premiered its new talker, Anderson, to a 1.3 rating/4 share primary-run average in the weighted metered markets, airing directly against tennis in top markets New York, San Francisco and Boston. Anderson, which opened with an exclusive interview with the parents of the late singer Amy Winehouse, has to overcome weak clearances in many markets.

However, Anderson did make some good marks in a few top markets, taking first place in the time period among the key daytime demographic of women 25-54 on WFAA Dallas at 3 p.m.; WJLA Washington, D.C., at 4 p.m.; WCCO Minneapolis at 9 a.m.; WESH Orlando (Fla.) at 2 p.m.; KCRA Sacramento (Calif.) at 3 p.m.; and WPXI Pittsburgh at 11 a.m.

The other major new talk entry this season, Debmar-Mercury's Jeremy Kyle, doesn't premiere until next Monday (Sept. 19). Tribune's Bill Cunningham, which is only cleared on Tribune stations, also premieres next week.

Some of the other syndie vets were happy with their opening days, regardless of tennis. Sony was encouraged by the opening of Dr. Oz' third season, the primary runs of which earned a 2.0 weighted metered market household average. Adding its primary and secondary runs together brought the show to a 3.8, which is considered more indicative of how the show will perform in the national ratings that come out next week. The show averaged a 3.0 in households for all runs in the weighted metered markets. Oz won many of Oprah's time slots, which should help grow the show's ratings this season.

Like Oz, Warner Bros.' Ellen also took over many of the Oprah slots. Ellen's opening day earned the show a 2.6/7 primary-run weighted metered market average. (Ellen airs mostly in single runs).

Finally, Debmar-Mercury's Wendy Williams opened season three with a 1.9/8 primary-run weighted metered market average on WNYW New York at 10 a.m. Still, Wendy's all-market household average was a 0.8, which is on par with last season's average household rating and needs to improve if the show is to make it to next season.

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